In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said that he was a priest and of the lineage of Levi, and Ptolemy his son, brought this letter of Purim, saying that it was translated in Jerusalem by Lysimachus the son of Ptolemy.

In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the Great, on the first day of the month Nisan, Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, had a dream.

He was a Jew dwelling in the city of Shushan, a great man among the great men of the king's court.

And he was among the number of those who were carried away captive by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from Jerusalem, with Jeconiah king of Judea.

And this was his dream: he saw voices, and noises, and thunders, and earthquakes, and confusion upon the earth.

Then, behold, two great dragons were prepared to fight.

And all nations were stirred up by their voices to fight against the righteous nation.

And that day was a day of darkness and horror, and distress, and tribulation, and great terror upon the earth.

And the righteous nation was troubled, fearing their expected evils, deeming death at hand.

And they cried unto God; and as they cried, behold, a small fountain grew until it became a great river, and overflowed with much water.

Then the light and the sun shone forth, and the humble were exalted and devoured the proud.

When Mordecai saw this, and arose from his sleep, he was pondering what God intended to do, and it ceased not from his mind, and he longed to know the meaning of the dream.